After my mini-marathon
review of the complete piano works
on Naxos – see the link for a review
– I’m now confronted with another traversal.
This comes from Inna Poroshina and was
recorded in Kiev in 1997-98. Licensed
from Essay they seem to have made their
way slowly in that form, last being
seen as late as 2003 and 2004, but they’ve
made a rapid turnaround in their new
guise in a Brilliant box. Unlike quite
a few such similar sets I can strongly
recommend the notes by Kevin Bazanna,
taken over wholesale from Essay; nineteen
pages of adept writing.

I
wrote about Kvapil and the long lost
lions of the Czech school such as Jan
Heřman in my Naxos review, so there’s
no need to reprise that here. Collectors,
when faced with two budget price discs
of this kind, will doubtless be asking;
Naxos or Brilliant? Both are five disc
sets and both were recorded almost contemporaneously,
Poroshina in Kiev and Stefan Veselka,
for Naxos, either in a Berlin radio
studio or live in concert. That latter
fact shouldn’t concern you. The Essay-Brilliant
recorded set up may be just that bit
more convincing but you won’t suffer
listening to the Naxos.

As for the performances,
well they go to show that however seldom
visited this body of work may be, it
can certainly withstand broadly differing
approaches. It’s generally – but not
invariably – the case that Poroshina
is the more rhythmically incisive pianist,
that her tempi and tempo relations are
that much more fluent and incisive.
Veselka tends to be rather more grand
seigniorial in his approach with more
relaxed tempi and a sense of chordal
verticality that gives his playing a
sense of depth. Time for some specifics.

The Silhouettes Op.8
are far more bracing in the newcomer’s
hands than with Veselka. He certainly
has a more pointed, emphatic view of
them but one that’s also less gossamer
(try the Allegro con fuoco opening for
an example). I particularly appreciated
the way that Poroshina took such a bright,
rhythmically less empathic view of the
Vivace fourth whilst vesting it with
such treble colour. The Theme and Variations,
one of Dvořák’s
greatest works in this medium, finds
her bringing a more fluid sense of legato
freshness to it than her principal rival.
Given that both pianists respond in
their differing, persuasive ways I have
to say I do tend to favour the more
sharply etched characterisation
that Poroshina evinces, not least in
variations one and sixth where I find
her decision making superior; as regards
the latter variation the stately rather
horizontal approach of Veselka offers
a legitimate, if perhaps too statuesque
response.

I enjoyed both pianists’
sets of the Op.54 Waltzes but the edge
goes to the Brilliant performance –
a more biting incision in the A major,
for example, though when Poroshina is
slower she sculpts things a touch more
dramatically, as she does in the C sharp
minor. Similarly the Eclogues sound
fine in Veselka’s hands but finer in
Poroshina’s; the melodic lines flow
more fluidly with her whereas Veselka
can be, as we’ve seen before, rather
too static.

The Six Mazurkas Op.56
sound strongly athletic here - maybe
too much so. I certainly prefer the
colours and dynamism of her first but
surely the fourth is rushed off its
feet in this overly energetic performance.
Its whole character changes when one
turns to Veselka who notes its indication
ma non troppo. She redeems herself
with a narrative sixth, with darker
and deeper colouration than Veselka
but on balance honours are pretty even
in this cycle.

The Poetic Tone Pictures,
an extended collection of thirteen pieces,
repays the diligent listener a-plenty.
Both performers excel here – Veselka
edges it with his swinging gait in Twilight
Way and he tends to be a touch more
expressive in the Reverie. But
then again you may prefer the way in
which she raps out the bass line in
the Bacchanalia. As for At a
Hero’s Grave, one of the most impressive
and certainly the most solemn, we have
a difference of approach. Poroshina
sees things through a Lisztian prism
whilst Veselka evokes a Beethovenian
gravity.

By and large Veselka
proves to have fleeter fingers in the
Humoresques – try him in the furioso
start to the First; combustible stuff.
Whilst Naxos’ sound picture is more
clangy, and Poroshina more equable there’s
real delight to be had from Veselka,
not least his wittier response to the
A minor [No.5] and the drama of the
B minor [No.8] where Poroshina is also
attractive – but rather more stately.
Things are once more reversed in the
Suite in A minor where we find that
she is more lissom than Veselka; he’s
rather inclined to be emphatic and to
rely overmuch on distinctions of dynamics.
Here I certainly prefer the Brilliant
approach.

Swings and roundabouts
then; on balance I think I would suggest
the new Brilliant box. It’s finely recorded,
has excellent notes and winning performances
that are usually incisive and convincing.
That said I prefer Veselka in a number
of instances and you won’t be disappointed
by him. At this price why not try both?

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